Thursday, October 20, 2011

Mouth in the Forest

On trips up and down the Keihan train line in and out of Osaka, I've passed a station called Moriguchishi numerous time, without giving it much thought, though the name did stick in my mind for no particular reason. It was because it stuck, however, I thought it might be interesting to actually go to that station, and see what, in fact, is there.
As it turns out, Moriguchishi Station is a rather large station, as that of the city of Moriguchi, situated between Kyoto and Osaka, and considered one of the largest "last stops" on the way into Osaka along the Keihan Line. The station itself is of a similar size and general setup of Hirakatashi Station and Korien Station: all mid-sized to accomodate a fair amount of traffic. Indeed, all lines excepting the 特急 (tokkyu), or Limited Express, stop at Moriguchishi Station. It is also one of several stations to be visited by the following trains:
- Commuter Sub-Express
- Commuter Rapid Express
- Midnight Express
The express line stops at Moriguchishi Station between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. From the station, one can also ride the limousine bus for Kansai International Airport.
Connected to the station, as at Hirakatashi, there is a Keihan Deparment Store. Within the station itself, there are a number of convenience stores and a cafe/pastry shop located behind the ticket gate. Outside the ticket gate, a small UNIQLO and several other fashion retailers line the inner walls of the station.
On the whole, the station is quite convenient. It should be, considering the number of business commuters it has: Moriguchishi is home to the headquarters of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., a major electronics company. While not quite so close to the station itself, the headquarters of Panasonic Corporation is also not too far away, and can be seen from the rails as one travels along the line into Moriguchishi. Moriguchishi then, is what one might consider a salaryman's station. It is hardly populated with gleeful teenagers as is Kuzuha, with its shopping mall. Because of its general customer base, the station remains largely quiet during the daytime, but quickly becomes busy during the evening as businesspeople return home from their workplaces.
The station platform also has this peculiar, orange-tiled faucet, of whose purpose I am unaware. Yet one would imagine that salarymen and women, as such, are not rinsing their feet as they return from work, nor filling tins with water for their dogs, as such structures are used at the beach in California.

The unlikely compatibility of the colors in the brick and the lichen, however, perhaps provide a bit of artistic distraction as they wait for their train to arrive and carry them, again, to or from their work. though aside from the odd--odd--college student, I doubt anyone is much concerned with it.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Portrait Time

It's difficult to take someone's portrait.
It's difficult to take someone's portrait well, and to capture an honest action or emotion in someone--someone you know or do not know.
This is doubly the case when you're obligated to ask, first, whether you can take the person's photograph and use it for a project for your visual anthropology class. But this is, after all, Japan, the land of point-and-shoot-shoot-shoot.
This is Hiromi. Though slightly embarrassed about being photographed in her very new haircut ("I look like a mushroom!" she protested), she readily agreed to have her picture taken, largely due to the fact, I believe, that she was my RA while I stayed in the seminar houses for the first week in Japan. In Hiromi's case, she's a person with whom I've lolled about in pajamas at "home": we're comfortable. For that reason, I think I was able to take just, "a picture of Hiromi," as opposed to a self-concious peace sign held close to the face. It's just Hiromi...who doesn't look like a mushroom.
My only other strategy for taking a semi-candid or at least natural shot of someone here is, to be honest, simply to take a photo while they're not paying attention. (This is true, of course, just in regards to my friends, whose approval I've earlier received, and whose pictures I can erase at their request without any conflict) While it's perhaps a bit difficult to achieve eye contact in such a situation, the resulting photographs still feel somehow more honest to me, as in this (albeit poorly framed and quickly taken) photo of my friend Eriko at her saxophone lesson:
(Contrary to the suggestion of her expression of concentration, the tune was "Dancing Queen.") It may be difficult to call this particular picture a "portrait," but I would call it a portrait of Eriko very involved in doing something she loves. In a country awash in cameras, and the prospect of having one's picture taken produces a series of poses and set expressions many times practiced, a candid shot, I feel, is an important thing indeed.